Video: SPEED pits minivan versus pickup in jet engine warfare

Aaron Richardson — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:01:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Motorsports, Videos, Chevrolet, Dodge, Specialty

Jet-powered Dodge Caravan - Click above to watch video after the jump

There are two ways to do jet-powered vehicles. On one hand, you have the deliciously simple and effective method of strapping a used jet engine to a car or truck, and letting the thrust do the rest.

On the other, slightly more complicated side, you can attach a turbine to a shaft drive, translating the thrust to the rear wheels via a differential. Both are viable, albeit expensive, ways of adding jet propulsion to your car. But which is faster?

SPEED took it upon itself to find out, pitting a thrust-powered Chevrolet S-10 against a shaft-driven Dodge Caravan. The Caravan uses a helicopter engine hooked to its rear wheels in conjunction with its standard gas engine up front. The truck relies solely on good, old-fashioned thrust. Click past the jump to see who's faster over an eighth-mile drag strip.

[Source: Streetfire]

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Video: SPEED pits minivan versus pickup in jet engine warfare originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIDEO: Michigan man builds awesome jet-powered F-150

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:29:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Videos, Ford, Lifestyle

2005 Ford F-150 Jet Truck - Click above to watch the video after the break

Here we have what may quite possibly be the World's Coolest Hybrid. It may not be particularly adept at saving fuel - owner Chris Lentz of Jackson, Michigan, says it burns one to five gallons of kerosene per minute (though presumably it could also run on biodiesel like Jay Leno's EcoJet) but we aren't aware of any other hybrid vehicles that can put out 2700 horsepower at 516 miles per hour.

While half of the 2005 Ford F-150 STX's drivetrain consists of the stock FoMoCo 4.6-liter V8 and four-speed automatic transmission, the truck's coup de grâce is certainly the 1950s-era Czechoslovakian Motorlet M-701 turbojet mounted discreetly in the bed. The 728-pound jet engine is reportedly capable of punching out 1,962 pounds of thrust at 15,500 RPM.

Coupled together, the two engines can push the truck down the quarter mile at 103 miles per hour and up to a measured top speed of 140 mph, though it could likely go faster with a slightly modified mounting arrangement. Speed, though, is only a small part of the story. Click past the break for a video of Lentz's truck in action.

[Source: Automobile]

VIDEO: Michigan man builds awesome jet-powered F-150 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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